Sunday 11th February 2024

Checked out of the Travelodge first thing this morning and drove to Fishponds, a suburb of Bristol, where we are doing a house-sit for the next 7 days. Jess and her two children, Nico and Eleanor, are flying out to Tenerife – before they went they introduced us to all the gang who are now in our charge. We have 2 cats, Dave and Gathina, 2 guinea pigs, Guinness and Scraps and 2 quails who remain nameless! We’ve been warned about foxes so hoping to still have 6 pets on the register when the family return next Sunday. 

Once we were settled and the fridge and pantry were stocked up, we caught a bus into the city of Bristol. Neither of us have been here for a long long time so we were interested to explore. Took in all the sights, visited the M Shed, Brunel’s SS Great Britain, the cathedral, took a ferry – we loved it. So many cafes, bars and restaurants – I hear it’s a great place for a Stag Weekend.

It’s a Banksy y’know!

Monday 12th February 2024

Today’s walk – Clevedon to Pill (11 miles)

Drove to Pill and parked up, planning to catch the two necessary buses to get us to Clevedon. A little bit of a mix up with bus timings resulted in us taking an Uber instead. Lovely driver though who takes us right to the seafront and recommended a place for breakfast. So ‘Tiffens’ it was … and I can highly recommend the bacon bap. Clevedon is a pretty Victorian seaside town but it was just a short stop for us before we set off to find the Coastal Path. 

It was a wonderful path today, cliffside, walking alongside the estuary, uphill and downhill through woodland, sounds of the seabirds and waves making us feel coastal, the sun was shining and there was a cool breeze … the only downside was the mud … 6 miles of it. It took all our concentration and balance to stay upright – there were many slips and slides and grabbing on to whatever was available. We passed many other walkers and we all exchanged our mud tales. But I’m proud to say we both made it through without a complete tumble – thank God for walking boots – today they well and truly met the mud. 

We passed ‘Sugar Loaf Beach’ which sounded like a Caribbean paradise … it was pretty but not quite at that level.

At Portishead, another very attractive resort with stunning houses, we stopped for refreshment at the Lido – Steve tucked into a huge slab of Victoria sponge. I stupidly abstained but immediately regretted it. And they didn’t frown at our oh so muddy boots!

After Portishead, there was a bit more woodland walking, then some country lanes and bridle paths to lead us all the way back to Pill, where our trusty car awaited. The terrain improved although there were still some muddy patches and deep puddles lurking. We couldn’t help but be fascinated by the miles and miles of car storage facilities in this area – brand new shiny cars all lined up waiting to go somewhere – wish they could spare us one. 

In May 2023, the England Coast Path was renamed The King Charles III England Coast Path, to mark the coronation. I think I might be writing to Charlie boy to get some of this mud cleared up before someone goes over the edge!